Nothing Important Happened Today
by sylvanius
Summary: A series of events between Daine and Numair. Mostly awkward, who doesn't love those? More D/N undertoned than pure D/N. Light, fluffy fun.
1. Locks

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So, random thoughts, but does anyone else wish we got to see more of Daine's normal everyday life

**So, random thoughts, but does anyone else wish we got to see more of Daine's normal everyday life? I mean if you think about it, all of the other Tortall series deal with the main character in a way in which we see them in what is an everyday setting for them for at least a part of the time. With Daine however, all we see is her life in times of great events. We never even get to go see Numair's tower, which I, personally, found very disappointing. Like, are there servants? How tower-y is it really? I personally get a very repunzel-esque image when I try to picture just a 'tower' and I think it would be really weird if he had a bunch of servants sitting there for most of the year while he was off reading books in chorus and moping about Daine. We never even get to know where she picked as her main home, if she ever did. I just wish we got to see more of her down time. I personally would not be against extra books…let's say one book between each of the already existing ones, eh? And one right after RotG; sounds good right? Admit it, we all want to know what really happened with Perin.**

**Disclaimer: not mine**

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Daine stared, shamefully open mouthed, at the sheer chaos surrounding her and at the small dragon staring innocently at her from the floor. Daine had spent the last couple hours searching for said dragon and, at this precise moment, was thinking that she may have preferred not finding her. Her search had led her to Numair's room and upon finding him not there and the door unlocked has put two and two together and assumed that kit had broken in looking for the mage. What she hadn't assumed was the sheer magnitude of destruction the small creature had been able to cause in a single morning.

"Kit" She trailed off, too flabbergasted to even be angry in that moment. Kit merely whistled happily and nudged the small pile of odds and ends, mostly shiny, she had collected in front of her on the floor with her muzzle. Those had undoubtedly been the cause of her search. She took in the papers skewed across the study floor and winced at the broken bottles and spilled substances before an entirely new feeling of horror overtook her as she took into account the open door that led to Numairs personal chambers.

"Kit, you didn't!" She looked frantically at the young dragon but the only reply she received was an excited whistle before Kit jumped up and scampered as fast as she could into the other room.

"Kit! Stop right there!"

She ran after her and upon entering the chamber had to lean against the doorframe for support. This room was possibly even worse than the study, feathers and other various forms of stuffing coated the room and anything that possibly could have been knocked over had, including a large armchair which Daine was at a complete loss as to how Kit could have even begun to move. Kit whistled impatiently from where she stood, shifting from side to side excitedly, on the bed. Daine could only wince as she saw claw marks on the headboard. She turned her attention back to the dragonet who was jumping around something on the bed trying to get Daines attention. Sighing and realizing she would get nowhere until she investigated Kit's new treasure. A puzzled expression formed on her face as she approached the bed and took in the object, it was some sort of fabric with a shiny gold thread, no doubt what had attracted Kits attention, embroidered on it. It looked much too feminine for Numair. Picking it up she blanched, it _was_ too feminine for Numair. The fabric in question was in fact a women's undergarment. She felt herself rapidly turning red and was about to drop the offending garment back to where it had lain when she heard the worst possible sound she could imagine hearing at that particular moment from the other room.

"What the _hell_?" Came Numair's voice from the study and before she knew it he had charged into his chambers looking for the culprit.

"Daine! What on earth?!" He stopped cold as he looked her over and his eyes fell upon the item in her hands, it was hard to tell who had turned a more impressive shade of red. Daine, who until this point had been completely frozen, quickly dropped; more like _threw_ really, the undergarment onto the bed and quickly pointed at Kit.

"She did it!" The two of them stood there for a number of minutes in complete silence with Daine still pointing at Kit until the culprit in question gave a frustrated whistle demanding to be told what was going on. Numair simply stood there, wide eyed, while Daine looked at Kit, lowered her arm, and walked out of the room with as much dignity as she could muster. That was the day Numair began his research on dragon proof locks.

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**REVIEW! It really does make me update faster, makes me feel like there is an actual reason for it**


	2. Rows

**Heh, so ever have moments that make you feel absolutely ridikulous as a human being? Well I have two at the moment. One, right here online, the other, sadly, in real life.**

**1. So I finally started using the story alert option provides for us so I would stop losing track of fics i wished to follow. After a while I started wondering why I wasn't recieving any notifications. Imagine my feeling of complete failure in life when i realized for the first time, even though i use that adress to sign into my account EVERY DAY, that I still had my account linked to an e-mail account that had not existed since I was 13, and first registered here. It is now fixed, but I have to say that it was truely a sad moment in my life when I realized I had overlooked that so often.**

**2. This is something I still cannot believe I did. While at school at a prefect meeting (Yes, we have prefects, we have four houses, we're harry potter, I KNOW!) I completely spaced out for a large quantity of time. My friend noticing this decided, i suppose, to try a little expiriment. Now i was sitting on the stage in our auditorium, she was about four rows back in the audience with a number of people (many of who were talking very loudly) between us. What she does next, while i am still spaced out staring in another direction, is (not even shouting, just in a fairly loud directed voice) simply loudly says 'Numair!' To which I immediately snap into attention and turn my head to her in what can only be described as a 'where?!' movement. She found this very amusing. I turned several shades of red. That story is most likely funnier than what you are about to read.**

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Alanna laughed as Daine recounted her and Kit's adventures of earlier that week.

"Neither of us has mentioned it, I think its best forgotten really." The younger girl laughed, albeit in an embarrassed way, as she browsed through the many shelves of books. She and Alanna had taken the afternoon to browse through the shops on Corus and catch up. At the moment, they were looking through the many shelves in a bookstore Daine was rather fond of, though would never dream of purchasing anything in.

"And you just walked out? Without saying a thing? That's brilliant!" Alanna was still laughing heartily as they continued down the aisle.

"Well what exactly was I supposed to say? Gee, this is pretty, one of your favorites?" Alanna laughed harder and patted Daine on the back.

"I'll admit, I feel fair sorry for you but then again, what else would you expect to find in the bedchambers of the infamous Numair Salmalin?"

"Alanna!" They stopped at the end of the row and Daine turned to the older woman, shocked.

"Don't look so scandalized young one, he had a worse reputation than just about any woman at court. In fact, he's probably part of the reason most of the women in court _have _a bad reputation."

"Well I know he's had his, uh, relations but surely it can't be _that_ bad." Daine mumbled, looking at her feet, her face reddening.

"Well I do exaggerate, but not by much. He had quite the history." The redhead trailed off looking thoughtfully at Daine.

"What?" Daine asked warily, not liking the look she was receiving.

"Well, I was just thinking. I mean, everyone had their right to _relations_ as you so charmingly put it but Numair does seem to take it a bit far sometimes."

"And?" She asked in a squeaky voice, now positively terrified of where this was going.

"Well, no one else has said anything to him; we all knew he wouldn't listen but maybe if you brought it up." She trailed off waving her hand vaguely in the air.

"No absolutely not! Why on earth would I do that?" Daine crossed her arms vehemently.

"Well, you know, just to suggest that some more _discretion _might be appreciated, for himself as well as those he represents and if it's coming from you he will at the very least be _embarrassed_ enough to be more discreet." She explained as Daine rolled her eyes.

"And how exactly would that conversation go, hm? Numair, by the way, this might be a little awkward but I thought now might be a good time to discuss the fact that you happen to be a bit of a man-whore, what do you think about this, hm?" Daine rolled her eyes again and started walked past the end of the row as Alanna, once again, burst into laughter.

When they past the last shelf on their way to the door the lady knights laughter stopped as soon as it had begun and Daine, confused, had looked back to see what the problem was only to see Alanna staring open-mouthed a few feet to their left. Following the direction of the older woman's gaze Daine let out a mortified squeak as her hand flew to cover her mouth. There, on the other side of the shelves next to which they had had their entire conversation, stood Numair holding a book, staring straight ahead and looking positively _green_. He shut the book slowly, placing it back on the shelf not looking at either of them.

"I believe" He said slowly "I shall return for this at a later time." He then slowly walked past them and out the door. The two women stood there in shock for several minutes before a wicked smile formed on the lionesses lips.

"Why on earth are you smiling? He heard the whole thing!" Daine whispered violently.

"Because, _I _wasn't the one who called him a man-whore." All Daine could to was cover her face with her hands in mortification. That was the day Daine learned not to have private discussions anywhere where there were _rows._

**Let's face it, the basic implication in fanfic is that, to be blunt, Numair is a bit of a man whore. It's never put quite that way but personally, I've always wanted to see someone call him that. It's ok though, because we all still love him. REVIEW!**


	3. Revenge

**Hehehehe, protective Numair at his most aggrivating. Time for Daine to be the completley humiliated one:D Numair gets a break.**

Daine leaned back against the doorframe of her room and smiled up at the young man standing over her. The young man in question, a clerk who had been courting her for quite some time now, smiled back and leaned down to kiss her. She responded enthusiastically and after a few moments, as she found she was thoroughly enjoying herself, was contemplating letting him into her rooms. Not that she wanted to go any further that night, but a few moments of actual privacy couldn't hurt, could they? She smiled into the kiss and reached behind her to open the door. However, she only succeeded in opening it halfway before an absolutely _chilling_ voice interrupted the pair.

"Hello, I don't believe we've met." Daine broke away quickly and looked up, horrified, to see Numair positively _looming _over the young man with his arms still around her. Numair, not even looking at Daine, gazed at the young man, hand outstretched, with a far too pleasant expression on his face. The clerk jumped swiftly back from Daine and grasped the mages outstretched hand carefully.

"Master Salmalin, uh, I" He didn't get any further however as Numair cut him off.

"A bit late to be hanging about doorways, isn't it? Mr., I didn't catch your name." As he spoke Numair slowly moved forward, causing the clerk to back away as Daine only looked on, horrified and now absolutely irate.

"Uh, no sir, I'm uh" He stumbled over himself trying to appease the black robed mage in front of him but was once again cut off.

"It really is late, perhaps you should be getting back to your own rooms, yes?" Numair smiled pleasantly, he had now come to stand completely between he young man and Daine.

"Yes, uh, goodnight sir and Daine I, uh, goodnight." With that he swiftly retreated down the hall and around the corner. Once he has disappeared from sight Numair turned to Daine smiling as though the past few moments had simply not happened.

"Magelet, lovely to see you, would you perhaps be up for a lesson?" He looked at her, hands in pockets, innocently while Daine only stared back open-mouthed and outraged.

"Numair! How could you, _why_ would you?" She spluttered, glaring daggers at him, and was forced to stop and take a deep breathe before continuing. "Numair, what exactly do you think you're doing?"

"I have no idea what you mean Daine." He said, placing his hand on his chest in mock hurt. "I am simply here to see if you would like to further you education, your humble servant here at your service." He said playfully, giving a small bow. For the life of her Daine really could not remember what on earth possessed her to say what she said next, the words simply fell out of her mouth before she had time to register them.

"Well, unless you are here to _finish_ what he started I really can't see how you could be of any _service_ to me at this moment." She hissed at him keeping her glare firmly in place though inside she froze at the implications of her words, they certainly implied far more than she had even considered that night. Numair stared back, his eyes opened so wide they were in danger of falling out. Daine began to desperately search her mind for some way to fix the situation but suddenly a very strange look appeared on Numair's face, it was thoughtful and playful, almost _predatory_ she thought with a shudder. He took a step forward, forcing her to back into the door and leaned down to whisper _very_ close in her ear.

"I would, you know, but someone once told me I should be a bit more _discreet_." With that he pulled back easily, gave her a smug smile, and whirled around to walk down the deserted corridor whistling cockily the whole way. Daine simply stood against her door, frozen in shock and breathing heavily. That was the day Daine learned that revenge was a bitch.

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**Hope you liked it, REVIEW!**


	4. Charms

**Face it, we all knew Numair's attention span would get him into trouble at some point, bet he's not feeling so smug NOW:D**

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Once Daine had entered the mess hall and retrieved her breakfast she headed over to where Numair and Alanna sat. Alanna greeted her warmly, albeit groggily, and Numair threw a rather smug smile in her direction which she returned with a quick glare while turning rather red in the cheeks. She sat down, ignoring further gloating looks, and then turned to him in order to asking a question she had been mulling over for a while.

"Numair, do you think it's possible for me to heal over distances?"

"Hmmm, it's an interesting thought. In theory, I think it could work considering the nature of your magic. Alanna, what do you think?"

"It's worth a try. I don't see anything stopping you, why the interest?"

"Well, it's just that I've been trying to think of ways in which I could expand my magic further, and I thought maybe that could be one." She said matter-of-factly, in truth she had made no new large advancements since she learned how to shape shift and was wondering at her limits. The continued on this subject for a moment before beginning to move onto other matters and after a moment Numair had turned around to discuss something with a fellow mage, she assumed, at the table behind them and Alanna took the opportunity to lean in slightly in order to talk to Daine.

"What on earth is going on with you two?"

"What do you mean?" Asked Daine, confused, as she bit into a sweet bun.

"You're sitting here glaring at him and he comes in this morning grumbling about 'damn nuisance boys who have nothing better to do than chase Daine around'. You're both acting fair strange if you ask me."

"Oh, uh, it's nothing really." She reddened slightly. "He just uh, well, caught me with a boy last night is all." She looked down, not really wanting to discuss this over breakfast, as Alanna raised an eyebrow.

"Caught as in?" The lioness trailed off, moving her hand in a circle so as to prompt Daine into embellishing further.

"No, no, nothing like, we were just kissing is all." The younger girl mumbled into her plate. Alanna looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, turned to see if Numair's attention was still elsewhere, and leaned in closer.

"Daine, have you put any thought into getting a pregnancy charm?" She kept her voice lowered slightly so as to keep the conversation as private as possible thought Daine still gave a start when she heard the question.

"Alanna! I, uh, well I'm not really in need of one right now, I mean I haven't, and last night really _was_ just" She stopped when Alanna started laughing softly, confused.

"No ones accusing you of anything youngin', I just think that you are of an age now where you are capable of making your own decisions regarding these matters and it's good to be prepared. Better have one than not I think, I can get one for you is you wish." Daine paused for a second and was about the respond when Numair's voice cut in.

"Anyway, Magelet, I completely support this idea."

"What?" Daine replied dumbly, staring at Numair wide eyed, as Alanna turned slowly towards the mage.

"What did you just say?" Alanna, open mouthed, just sat there as Numair began in on one of his famous rants.

"I said it's a good idea. Daine, you are at a point in your life now where it makes sense to push ahead and try new things. I fully support it, in fact, the sooner you start the better and don't think you have to confine, I say go out there and experiment. Try as many things as you can, see what works, see what doesn't. I couldn't think of a better time, in fact I'm surprised I didn't suggest it first. Of course, I'll be here to help as much as you need, walk you through it, show you how it's done. If you need anything just ask. In fact, I have a couple hours free after breakfast, why don't we start now?" He shrugged, smiling at Daine, as the two women stared at him in abject horror. Finally, Alanna broke the silence.

"Numair, please dear gods tell me you're not talking about what we were." Numair through the woman a confused look.

"Of course I was, you think I can't remember a simple conversation?" After another moments silence, Daine far too horrified to speak, he continued. "Uh, what's wrong?"

"Pregnancy charms, Numair! I was talking to Daine about getting her a _pregnancy charm_." Alanna hissed at the mage to immediately turned a very striking shade of white.

"What?" He through a shocked look at Daine. "No, I , uh, the healing, I was going to help you with the _healing_, not sex, I mean , uh, yeah, the healing and the magic and the _healing_." He blundered over himself whilst Alanna put her head in her hands, leaning on the table, and Daine just slowly got up, saying she had to be at the stables, and left a very embarrassed Numair staring weakly at the table in front of him. On her way out she could have sworn she heard Numair hiss '_pregnancy charms?_' at the lioness but quickly sped up, trying to forget the incident. That was the day that Numair realized people may have a point when they said he was off in his own world far too much.

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	5. Potions

**Hehe, I always wondered if they had a magical equivalent of viagra.**

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Daine walked into Numair's office in the teaching wing humming softly to herself.

"Morning" She said pleasantly sitting on his desk as he stood in front of a bookcase, seemingly trying to locate something, across the room, his back turned to her.

"Morning Magelet" He replied, absentmindedly. Swinging her legs back and forth she looked around the room idly, her eyes finally settling on a vial of liquid sitting on the desk next to her. She picked it up, examining it. The liquid was a dull purple color and she made a face at it's thick looking consistency, it seemed to be a potion of some sort. Curious, she asked Numair.

"Numair, what's this potion?" She held it up and he glanced back quickly and answered automatically, waving it off.

"Potency potion" Numair continued to move books around, unconcerned, but Daine froze for a moment before gingerly moving the vial back to its former location.

"Oh, I _see_." She put her hands on her knees and looked at the floor, awkwardly. Numair, upon hearing her tone, turned around to look at her.

"It's not for _me_." The mage said incredulously and Daine raised her hands up in front of her in defence.

"I didn't _accuse_ you Numair. It's perfectly alright."

"It's _not_."

"Really, Numair, I'm not saying anything-" At this the two of them began to talk at the same time, making it more a mass of jumbled words than an actual conversation.

"It's for a _friend_-"

"You don't need to get so worked up-"

"I have absolutely _no_ need-"

"I mean, really, you don't need to be _embarrassed_-"

"I am _perfectly_ capable of-"

"I hear it's a very common problem-"

"I'm plenty _potent_ on my own-"

"If you don't want to talk about it-"

"I already told you, it's not mine-"

"But you can if you want, really, there's no need to be ashamed-" Finally Numair picked dup the vial, holding it out, and said loudly.

"I do _not_ need this potency potion!" Of course, as luck would have it, Alanna entered just in time to see Numair raise the vial and declare his, er, _abilities_. Numair stared at the redhead, horrified, as Alanna immediately started laughing and Daine had to put a hand over her mouth to hide her smile. Numair quickly replaced the vial on the desk as Alanna continued to stand there, openly laughing at Numair. Daine soon joined, unable to help herself and after a few moments of this Numair, feeling slightly huffy, trudged his way out of the room, leaving the two women to themselves and forgetting that he had left the vial.

Later that day Daine walked through the halls towards Numair's room, still giggling slightly at the events of earlier in the day. She was in fact on her way to drop the vial off at his rooms since she was going by anyway. Normally she would have felt very awkward at the whole situation but in this case she merely found it amusing and hoped Numair didn't mind her and Alanna's teasing. Reaching his rooms, she found the door slightly open and let herself in, calling out to Numair.

Numair sat on the desk in his private studies grinning at the women in front of him. He had been courting her for a couple weeks now and she had let herself in to surprise him. He smiled and leaned down to kiss her, and after a few moments deepened the kiss considerably and pushed her more firmly against the desk. Just as he was contemplating moving them into the bedchambers Daine's voice rang out through the quarters in a sing song voice.

"Numair! You forgot something, Alanna sent me to give you your potency potion!" Numair pulled back from the kiss, mortified, and the woman looked at him dubiously as Daine entered the room. Upon seeing them she turned very red and placed a hand over her mouth.

"I, uh, I am _so_ sorry." Numair didn't miss the stifled laugh, and glared impressively at her, she had suppressed in her attempt at an apology, even as she continued. "I'm just, uh, I'm going to leave this here." She placed the gods cursed vial gingerly on a table next to the door and ducked out quickly. Numair continued to glare at the spot where his young friend had disappeared from for a moment until he finally turned back to the woman still in his arms. The woman in question slowly nodded her head, patted him on the chest, and walked out. He had a vague feeling he wouldn't be seeing her again. That was the day Numair stopped making potions for friends.

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**I'm not sure If I remember reading about potions being used in tortall-verse...but ummm..it works I guess, review! pretty please! I'll be more inclined to get more ideas for chapters if i get more reviews wink wink nudge nudge**


	6. Windows

**Wow, I really apologize for how dreadfully short this chapter is, and how dreadfully not funny it is. I do seem to be running out of ideas for this one at the moment, althought I have a couple to go...just not sure how funny they will actually be, but have faith! In time I will come up with more, anyway, enjoy! (i hope:s)**

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Daine flew through the air, feeling the cool breeze sift through her feathers. She loved to take afternoon flights when she found herself with free time as it soothed her. She circled around the palace a few times; observing those below her with mild interest, and after a while noticed that Numair's window was open. Turning around she glided to it's ledge in order to see if her friend and teacher happened to be in his chambers. She had been looking for him most of the day, to no avail, and thought that now would be the perfect time for a visit as he usually had some downtime during this time of day. Not seeing him in his bedchambers she smoothly shifted into cat form and jumped to the floor, padding across the floor, and checking to make sure that he was not merely out of sight. Not seeing him Daine shifted back to her human form, sighing in frustration. She ran a hand through her hair as she looked around the room again, as if hoping to see that Numair had magically appeared in the last three seconds. Usually if his window was open it meant that he was present in his room or merely gone for a short period of time. Assuming it was the latter she decided to wait for him.

Daine went to sit on the bed before realizing that him returning to his quarters to find her naked on his bed _may_ not be the best course of action. She glanced around, her gaze falling upon a slightly wrinkled shirt that lay on the floor next to the bed. She pulled it on, the fabric falling almost to her knees due to its size, deciding that as far as Numair went it was decent enough. He may not exactly agree with that thought but really, he had only seen her naked about twenty thousand times. She paced around the room for a few minutes before mentally kicking herself when she realized that she had neglected to check the adjoining study. She chuckled softly at her stupidity; where else would you find a master mage with free time on his hands?

She slipped into the study, pulling the shirt closer around her body, and sighed once again when she realized that he was not there either. She slowly walked to the middle of the room, swinging her arms and running her hand across the backs of the large armchairs as she went, until she reached his desk. She ran her fingers over the cover of a large leather bound sitting on his desk and recognized it as a book he had used in their lessons together. Deciding that she might as well fit in some extra studying Daine lifted the heavy book into her lap as she sat on his desk and crossed her legs, the action causing the garment she was wearing to raise to her upper thigh. After a few moments she heard the door to the study open and looked up, ready to greet Numair. What she had not been expecting, however, was to hear him talking in the middle of a conversation as he entered.

"This is my private study, I may have some texts you may be quite interested in" Another thing Daine had not been expecting was the two elderly men, most likely mages, who entered right after Numair. Numair in question froze in abject horror as his eyes fell on Daine, sitting on his desk, wearing nothing but his shirt. The two other men glanced at each other briefly and then to Numair and back to Daine as she hurriedly jumped of the desk, crossing her arms in front of her, and mumbling apologies.

"I am so sorry, this uh, it isn't what it looks like. I mean, uh, I , I'm going to go." With that the girl quickly ran from the room, covering her face with one hand, as Numair put a hand over his face and sighed heavily while the two men he had so innocently invited over gave each other 'knowing' smiles. That was the day Daine stopped using windows instead of doors.

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**Review! It makes writing so much more enjoyable (not that I don't already love it)**


	7. Silence

**New chapter! Enjoy!**

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Daine pouted as she shifted in the saddle for what must have been the thousandth time that afternoon, much to clouds annoyance. She and Numair had been on the road for a week since they had seen their last inn and to top it off it was now cold and wet outside. Of course, in these conditions, most people would be content to simply sink into silence and ride it out. Numair, however, didn't seem to see the logic in this. She had _accidently _gotten him started on one of his obsessive rants about god knows what. Of course, that had been that _morning_ and even though it was nearing late afternoon he was still at it and going strong. As much as she loved Numair, enough was _enough._ She really couldn't even put into words how _not interested_ in the magical properties of stones native to Tyra she was. She glared at him as he began on a new side rant and spoke particularly loud, as he often did when he has just remembered something new.

She almost cried in relief when she saw a small village over the next rise, and almost cried again when she realized they were still a few hours from it.

"Numair look! The village!" She pointed violently, as though hoping to extend her arm enough to reach it.

"Hm, good, almost there. Anyway, as I was saying" Daine immediately stopped listening to what he was saying but nothing she did could block him out completely, even conversation couldn't stop him for long. She glared at him as cloud asked her if she should bite him. Daine considered it quite seriously for a moment before deciding she should think of something herself. Numair was rarely distracted from his inane babbling, which at this point was what it was, unless something thoroughly important, violent or embarrassing happened. She grinned slightly and bit her lip at the next thought that came to her. She quickly bit her tongue, not sure if she should go through with it but after a few more minutes decided she really didn't care how inappropriate it was.

"Say, Numair? You think we'll be able to find a good inn tonight?" She asked innocently and he looked at her, at a loss for a moment from being brought back to the real world.

"Oh, I suppose so. Seems promising"

"Good I can't wait for a good long bath. Let's hope it's not like last time though, it get's so grating when we have to explain wanting _two_ rooms at _every_ inn we stop at." He looked surprised for a moment, understandable considering she had never once brought it up and it wasn't something he was accustomed to speaking to her about.

"Yes, people do tend to have rather sordid minds. I'm sorry if it bothers you that much." He looked guilty for a moment and Daine wondered if she had hurt his feelings but the look quickly disappeared. Numair opened his mouth to speak and Daine, horrified at the thought of the continuation of the lecture, grimaced, he hadn't said what she wanted him to at all, but instead of continuing he played right into her hands.

"I mean, you know, of course, Daine, that I would never put you in that situation. I mean, I don't think of you in that way at all." He said seriously and Daine bit her lip to keep herself from laughing before putting on the best hurt face she could muster and looking down.

"You don't find me attractive?" She glanced up at him, trying very hard to look genuinely hurt by his comment and he looked at her in utter shock and panic.

"What? No, I mean, it's not that. You are a very attractive girl, uh_, woman_. I mean, for other men, uh, not that I don't find you attractive but I mean, not that I do, you know, like _that_. What I mean is, you're not horrible to look at, I mean, no, you're good to look at, _great_ even. I love looking at you, I mean, in a friend way and, uh, you know, I didn't mean to say, well, I, uh, you're very, uh, _aesthetically pleasing_ or, uh, something." He stumbled over his words while at the same time trying to sound as delicate as possible. He ended with simply looking straight ahead, eyes closed, and Daine could see him cursing himself under his breath. She giggled, silently, when they got to town she would buy him a nice dinner at the inn but until then the few hours of silence were well worth it.

That was the day that Numair learned how wonderful silence could be.

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** I think under normal circumstances Numair would have handled that very gracefully and with a lot of charm, but in this case I think he may be caught off guard just enough to blunder it a bit. REVIEW!**


	8. Privacy

**I present thee with chapter eight!**

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Daine knocked lightly on the door to Numair's rooms before quickly withdrawing her hand and biting her nails. She waited a few moments and was considering turning to leave when the door opened to reveal Numair, looking rather dishevelled.

"Is this a bad time?" She asked, nervously.

"No, no of course not Magelet. I think I just fell asleep at my desk is all." He smiled at her sheepishly and opened the door wider, ushering her in. She walked into the room and turned around to face him as he closed the door, not sure of what to say. He walked up to her and took her hand, pulling it away from her mouth.

"I thought we broke you of that habit." He said half teasingly and half annoyed, but she didn't reply and he continued after a moment of silence "Is there anything in particular you need?"

"Yes, actually" She trailed off and felt herself turning red as he took a step back and examined her curiously.

"And it is? Don't be shy Daine; after all I am but your humble servant." Her bowed deeply and looked up at her winking.

"Well I was, uh, I was wondering if you could help me with this." She dug around in her pockets for a moment before pulling out a small object and holding it up to Numair, her pregnancy charm. It was now Numair's turn to blush.

"Uh, Daine, um, well, how exactly do you want me to _help_ you here?" He stuttered, confused at what her intentions here exactly were and she started at his implication.

"Oh, no, uh, nothing like that. It's just that when I shape shift, I don't know why but sometimes I lose it in the change and, well, I figured that wasn't very good. So I was wondering if you would be able to magic it?" She looked at him hopefully, holding the charm out and he took it tenderly, as though it may attack him.

"And you didn't go to Alanna? She seems more, uh, _suited_ to this sort of thing." He said, turning the charm over in his fingers.

"Well, I thought about it but, well, you're the best mage I know so" She trailed off, looking at the floor and struggling not to begin biting her nails again. He looked up at her and couldn't help but smiling at the comment, touched as she had never voiced that opinion before and that she would think to trust him in something that important.

"I'll see what I can do, shouldn't be too hard. Take it with you for now though." He handed it back to her. "I'll read up on it some and see what I can find out before I start tampering with it." She smiled at him, thankfully, and turned to look at the table behind her where a scroll caught her eye.

"What's this?" She asked curiously, setting the charm on the table as she leaned over the scroll to examine it. The two of them spent the next few hours pouring over various scrolls before Daine finally said that she should be getting to bed and excused herself. After bidding her goodnight and shutting the door Numair turned and sighed, realizing that she had left the pregnancy charm on the table. He decided to give it back to her tomorrow, he felt he should not experiment on it aimlessly in case he were to mess up some of the magic already in place, gods forbid, and that he should return it to her in case she should _need_ it. His fists clenched at the thought and he forced his mind to think that she only had it as a precaution. Besides, he thought with a smug smile on his face, it was rather hard to need one when all ones suitors had suddenly turned into trees.

* * *

Daine, Onua, Sarge and Numair sat upon a hilltop sharing a midday meal and laughing. There had been a break from training the riders and as the weather was lovely they had decided to make the most of it and eat outside, inviting Numair along. During a point where Onua and Sarge were thoroughly distracted by arguing with each other about something horse related Numair leaned over slightly, in Daine's direction. What he didn't realize, nor Daine, that at right at that moment their two companions had turned their attention back to the entire group.

"I believe you forgot this in my room last night." He said holding out his hand to give her the pregnancy charm. However when she reached out to receive it he withdrew his hand too quickly and the charm dropped onto the blanket between them. Numair looked up quickly when he heard a surprised gasp. Onua and Sarge were both looking directly at the charm, Sarge with his eyebrows raised and Onua with her mouth open.

"Last night?" Sarge asked, a teasing note in his voice, and looked as though he was trying not to grin widely.

"No, it's not what you think." Numair said quickly, glancing at Daine who had turned an absolutely inhuman shade of red and was scrambling to pick up the offending object.

"You don't have to explain." Onua said, waving her hand in front of her.

"No, it's really not, right Daine?" He looked to her for support and she nodded violently in response, incapable of response.

"It's ok really, we always knew you two would get together. It's not our fault you fit so perfectly." Onua said airily and Sarge grinned at her.

"Aw don't get all huffy, I know you thought it would be later but really, it's only a gold crown. Now pay up." He held his hands out, raising his eyebrows at her.

"What?" Daine asked, practically squeaking, as she stared at the two instructors.

"Mithros, Minos and Shakith what are you two talking about? Are you _serious_?" Numair asked in disbelief and Onua and Sarge froze.

"Horse lords, it actually was innocent wasn't it?" Onua asked slowly, looking cornered as she shot Sarge a panicked look.

"Uh, we should be getting back now. Rider's and whatnot, with the training, it's nice if riders can _ride,_ yeah." Sarge jumped up, pulling Onua with him, and the two disappeared quickly down the hill. Daine and Numair sat on the blanket, both unsure of what to say, not looking at each other.

"Heh, that's fair silly I mean" Daine trailed off, attempting a laugh and Numair Jumped to fill the gap.

"Of course, they were just being" He joined her in the forced chuckling and they continued like that for a moment before silence once again descended upon them and Daine jumped up.

"I should go." Numair sprung to his feet beside her.

"Me too."

" Right well, I'll see you later I guess." She moved forward to hug him on automatic reaction but Numair backed up slightly before realizing he had done so and what resulted was an awkward little dance of each trying to hug one another at the wrong point, in an effort to get past is Numair grabbed her hand and shook it, realizing too late that that was possibly the strangest thing he could do.

"Right, well, I really should get going." Daine said, still shaking his hand. They stood there for at least another thirty seconds, shaking hands, before she turned and retreated down the hill. Numair simply watched her go and put his head into his hands. That was the day that Numair realized privacy was key in those sorts of situations.

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**Review, pretty pretty please. I love to heard feedback.**


	9. Masks

**Very long chapter, you should be proud of me. By the way, does anybody else really hate the way the new account page is set up? Liek really hate? Especially the stats page, I want my hit counter back on my story stats page!**

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Daine gave a huffy sigh as she flipped through the dresses in her closet. She had absolutely nothing to wear to the upcoming ball as all her gowns were of simple wool and not near flamboyant enough for this particular event. Their majesties ha announced a masquerade ball a number of weeks ago but Daine, determined to put it off for as long as possible, has neglected to find a suitable dress. Masquerades were events at which it was expected to be flashy and to go over the top and she had nothing that fit that description. She really couldn't afford to buy a gown that would fit that description either. She sighed again, pulling a light blue wool dress of a simple cut. She could make a simple mask at some point; there really was no need to dress up when she thought about it. It's not like she had anyone to dress up for, she thought slightly bitter. Just then she heard a knock on the door.

"Come in" She called out, still studying the dress in her hands as Thayet walked in.

"Morning, what's this?" The queen asked, walking over and taking a piece of the green cloth into her elegant hands.

"I was trying to figure out what to wear for the masquerade." She said dejectedly, imagining how stunning Thayet would be, and looked at the queen as the older woman laughed heartily, taking the dress from her hands.

"Let's go" Thayet had already started walked towards the door, pulling Daine with her.

"Where?"

"To get you a dress, you don't think I would let our wildmage go in anything less than the best do you?" Daine dug her heals in the ground, pulling back.

"Oh no your majesty, I can't let you do that."

"Nonsense, come alone, We're getting Onua and Alanna on the way, we'll have a girls day out." Daine sighed, deciding it was best to go along with it, once Thayet set her mind on something there was no changing it.

"Onua? She never goes to these things" _Lucky_, Daine thought.

"I've always wanted to get her all dressed up and I finally succeeded." Daine looked at her curiously and she continued "She lost a game of cards" Thayet said, grinning wickedly.

* * *

Daine looked nervously around the dress shop, which had more colors than she could name, and gulped, it all looked so _expensive_. Thankfully she had been spared the first turn as Thayet had Onua up in front with the tailor.

"No pink, no purple, no _yellow_, no" Onua was cut off as Thayet put a finer to the K'mir's mouth.

"Really Onua, at this rate you'll be wearing nothing at all." Said Thayet and Alanna, who was fingering through some premade gowns in the corner, snorted.

"That would be a sight, maybe then we could even get Sarge to show up." Alanna winked at Onua who glared back.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Besides, you should stop complaining. If I have to go to these things I think it's perfectly fair that you should be dragged down with me." Alanna said airily, ignoring Onua's prior comment.

"Red!" Thayet shouted suddenly and the other three women looked at her, startled. "Red, perfect for you Onua." The K'mir sighed, giving in and the tailor began taking measurements as Thayet began talking rapidly to her, giving her directions as to how the gown was to look.

All too soon it was Daines turn and she shifted uncomfortably as she stood in front of the queen and the tailor as they talked about what colors would be best and, gods above, her _body type_.

"Why can't I just do what Alanna's doing?" She asked, pointing at the Lady Knight who had found a premade dress of a deep purple and was currently examining herself in the mirror with it on, seemingly satisfied.

"Because this if your first masquerade and it should be an event to be remembered, Alanna has done this many times before. Besides, perhaps you may be able to catch _someone's_ eye." At the tone of Thayets voice she saw Alanna and Onua glance at each other out of the corner of her eye and looked at them, confused, but decided it would be best not to ask. Thayet pondered over Daine for a moment longer before a grin spread across her face.

"What do you think of gold?" The queen asked, turning to Alanna instead of Daine as the wildmage balked.

"Gold?" The younger girl said, sceptical.

"Trust me, I have a plan." That' what I'm afraid of, Daine thought warily but reluctantly agreed and listened to Thayet give instructions to the tailor, growing more nervous by the moment.

* * *

"What's all this?" Daine asked in awe as they entered a new shop. Masks, wigs, jewellery, ribbons and countless other oddities filled the shop.

"Well surely you didn't think the dress was enough, now we need to find you your mask." Thayet said, examining a green mask in the form of a dragon, complete with horns.

"Gods, there's so much stuff!" Daine gasped, running her fingers through a clump of ribbons which shimmered as they moved.

"What do you think of this?" Alanna asked, her voice shaking with laughter, as she held a mask that seemed to be an imitation of Jon up to her face. Thayet and the other women burst out laughing before continuing their exploration. Onua managed to find a simple red mask with a gold trim and Thayet insisted on buying some matching ribbons to weave into the horse mistresses short hair. Thayet had chosen Daine's mask for her, as the wildmage had been far too distracted _looking_ at everything, and Daine had to admit that it was a beautiful choice. It covered half her face and was a delicate creamy white color with a soft gold design swirling over it. She had thought they were done before Thayet stopped her.

"Not quite yet, we have one more thing to find."

"What on earth could I possibly need after all this?"

"A wig, I _told_ you, this is a time to go all out." She grabbed Daine's wrist gently and pulled her into a different section of the shop "Alanna, Onua! What color do you think?" It seemed, however, that the queen needed no assistance and she quickly chose one that, to say the least, shocked Daine. It was a wig of a brilliant blonde color that was woven into an intricate design and had pearls woven into it at various points.

"Seriously?" She squeaked "Odds Bob's, I'll look ridiculous!"

"Trust me" The queen said, examining the wig closely and ignoring Daines protests.

* * *

Daine decided that she had done well to follow the queens' directions. After preparing for the ball Daine stood in front of the mirror in her room, she couldn't even recognize herself. The dress had come earlier that day and at the time she had been horrified to see what she was going to wear, it was _very_ tight and _very_ low cut. Now however, she was not exactly complaining. It was cream and gold silk, the bodice hugging her curves tightly and flaring out into a full skirt, the sleeves glided down widely around her arms, opening in the front. If she had been dressing simply in this, she never would have left her rooms. However, when she put on the mask and the wig she suddenly had the confidence to pull it off. Somehow the illusion of being another person made her feel like one. She smiled; she actually looked like one of those court women she so often envied, well _almost_.

* * *

Daine looked around the hall, amazed. She had never seen so many _colors_. She stood near the wall, trying to see who she could recognize; the queen of course looked radiant in a gown of deep green silk and emeralds as she danced with Jon. Suddenly a light male voice came from her left.

"Enjoying yourself?" She looked up to see a tall man standing there, smiling down at her form beneath his mask.

"Very much so, and what about you sir?" She looked him over, he was dressed as a play character she could recognize but could not at that moment remember the name of and had a simple mask covering half of his face and his dark hair, she assumed, was covered by a feathered hat so she could not tell it's length.

"Very much so, would you perhaps tell me your name?" He flashed a smile at her and she looked at him harder, trying to discern if she knew him or not. She thought his voice sounded familiar but there was _much_ too much noise around to hear it properly.

"Well now, wouldn't that ruin the point of a masquerade?" He laughed and she decided she liked his man and smiled back at her.

"Well then, no names then?"

"Well, it does seem a little superfluous at the time."

"Well" Paused, placing a hand on her arm. "I wouldn't want to go against the wishes of a Lady." She looked down at his arm, a small smile playing over her face. Normally she would never play along with this kind of advance, but tonight she was feeling very receptive to it, _it must be the costume_, she thought. She leaned into his hand slightly, and smiled up at him.

"Perhaps you would like to accompany me out to the balcony?" He asked, his voice slightly lower, and she nodded agreeably. She _really_ liked this man.

Standing near the railing of the balcony Daine stared out into the gardens as the man walked up beside her. She shivered slightly and he put an arm around her tentatively, testing his limits.

"Are you cold?" He whispered to her, making her shiver more. She was not used to being this, well, _receptive_. She turned into his arms, moving closer.

"A bit, I don't suppose you know how to help with that?" She whispered huskily, blushing at her own forwardness. He smiled and leaned forward, his lips pressing softly against hers. She gasped at the sensations that coursed through her body at his touch. This was nothing like being kissed by her past suitors. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. Just then a voice came from inside the hall, coming towards them.

"Numair? Is Daine out here too?" Daine broke away from the man in her arms in shock as Alanna came onto the balcony and put her hand over her mouth, trying not to smile Daine noted "Oh my" Daine tore off her mask and wig and looked up at the previously unknown man mere inches from her.

"Numair?!" She gasped, horrified, and his eyes grew big upon seeing her. He took of his mask and hat, his mask of black hair falling from beneath it.

"Daine?" They stared at each other, aghast, as Alanna burst out laughing and headed back into the hall, shouting for Onua.

"I, you, we, uh, Numair?" She stuttered, turning at least twelve shades of red.

"I didn't know, why didn't you tell me? I, I mean, I wouldn't" She cut him off, waving a hand in front of her.

"I think, uh, I'm going to go inside and, uh, yeah, that's it. I'm going inside." She needed to get away very quickly, not only had she made out with Numair but she had liked it, she had _really_ liked it. She began to walk away but Numair's voice, suddenly with an edge of anger, came after her.

"Hey, wait a second. What in the goddesses name do you think you're doing going around and kissing men you don't know!" He looked at her accusingly and Daine turned to him in disbelief, this was _not_ the time to get overprotective.

"Inside. Me. Now." With that she turned back into the hall, trying to ignore the tingling in her body and walking, shamefaced, past a hysterical Alanna and Onua. She had no doubt that the queen would soon join. That was the day Daine stopped taking advice from Thayet.

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**Teehee, I've always wanted them to accidently kiss. Finally found a way to do it. By the way, this fic might not be updated for a little bit as I am a little stumped for ideas at the moment but as soon as I come up with new ones I will add them! Review please! **

**(Seriously though, am I the only one who hates the new account pages?)**


	10. Fun

**Teehee, enjoy.**

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Daine sprinted to catch up with Onua, baffled at how the shorter woman could be moving _so_ fast.

"Hurry it up" The K'mir called back and Daine sighed, nearly dropping the food she held in her hand.

"Where are we _going_?" The younger woman asked.

"I told you already, we're eating lunch outside today."

"Well, in case you've forgotten to notice we've been _surrounded_ by _outside_ for ten minutes now." The wildmage grumbled as Onua rolled her eyes.

"Haven't you ever heard of dinner and a show, girl? Now hurry along." They finally arrived as the base of a hill with a path leading up it that was shaded by trees. Instead of heading up the hill Onua perched herself on a nearby fence than ran along the edge of the path and served as an enclosure for a small group of ponies. Daine sat down and greeted a few, wishing them a good day and that she was sorry but she was a bit busy at the moment, before returning to Onua.

"Okay, now what?" She asked, bewildered, as Onua bit into her sandwich and pointed up the hill.

"Do you know what's up there?"

"Um, there's a swimming hole yes?"

"Right you are" The K'mir took another bit of her sandwich and offered no further explanation.

"And? What on earth did you mean 'show'?" The response to this question was an eye roll and a sigh.

"Really, Daine, think about it. Who frequents this particular spot? Men, particularly those who are out working hard all day and are in need of a swim; and what does all that working hard lead to? A very nice sight for anyone who happens to see them leaving the area." Onua said this as thought it were the most obvious thing in the world as Daine turned red.

"Onua!" The younger girl said, never having seen this side of her former employer before.

"What? They're the ones leaving with naught but their breeches; I am simply an innocent bystander." Daine snorted at the implication of Onua being innocent in the situation and shook her head, taking a bit of her sweet roll.

"Isn't it a bit obvious though? Us sitting right here, in plain view and all?"

"Nah, We're right next to a pasture. Completely within our rights" Onua smiled wickedly and Daine laughed, maybe this would be fun after all.

The two sat and chatted for a moment before Onua leant over to dig through her pack for an apple she had brought with her. Daine reached for her water jug and unscrewed it just as she looked up at the pass. Someone was coming down the hill, though do to the tree coverage she could only see their feet at first. Slowly the man was unveiled, and she could have sworn that time was going particularly slow as he was uncovered inch by inch. Soon she knew that he was wearing nothing but breaches and as his toned stomach was uncovered Daine raised an eyebrow and bit her lip appreciatively. This was definitely going to be fun. Ignoring Onua's mutters as she continued to dig through her bag Daine smiled as a broad, dripping wet, chest was unveiled and sighed. She raised her water jug to her mouth and took a long sip just as the face of her friend and teacher, Numair Salmalin, was revealed through the foliage. Daine immediately choked on her water, turning a pure red, and looked away quickly, clearing her throat and trying with all her might to pretend that she had not been doing precisely what she had been doing.

Onua finally sat up, looking happily at the apple in her hand before turning to Daine and giving the younger girl a very _confused _look due to the way she kept fidgeting.

"Daine!" Daine thought she might die of embarrassment when she heard Numair call her name and looked up to see him walking towards her. When he reached the two women Onua glanced at Numair, then back at Daine, and then back to Numair as realization dawned on her face. Slowly, the K'mir began to laugh, it began slowly as what she had just discovered sank in and soon erupted into full on uncontrollable laughter.

"Onua? What on earth has gotten into you?" Numair asked, giving her the strangest look, as he shook out the shirt he had been carrying and began to pull it on. The K'mir could only shake her head, tears streaming down her face. Numair looked to Daine, who shrugged, feeling a bit heady from the sound of her heart pounding in her ears.

"What are you doing here?" He asked after a moment of silence.  
"Uh, well, erm, ponies" Daine said in the most eloquent way possible.

"Right" He looked over to Onua, who had quieted into a more silent type of laughter and was busy wiping tears from her face, and raised an eyebrow "Really Onua, don't you have better things to be doing?" He teased mildly as a wicked smile formed on her face.

"I don't know, what about you Lankin?" She asked, referring to a rather famous play character. A rather famous play character that a rather famous mage dressed up as for a rather infamous masquerade; Daine glared at Onua, Open mouthed and Numair, startled, actually _jumped back_, looking like a startled deer. He looked to Daine, eyes meeting hers briefly, before looking away and turned so red you could have sworn he had a sunburn.

"I, uh, I have things to be doing." He stuttered, backing up slowly and preparing himself to run if need be "That's right, many important mage-like things." With that he turned and walked swiftly away as Onua cracked up once more.

"Onua!" Daine hit the woman on the shoulder, none too lightly, and Onua toppled over the back of the fence, still laughing as she hit the ground.

"I'm _sorry_, it was too perfect."

"Mithros, Minos and Shakith" Daine groaned, burying her head in her hands. That was the day that Daine learned not to listen to Onua's ideas about what _fun_ was.

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**There's far too much of Numair accidently checking Daine out, I think it should be her turn.**


	11. Obstacle Courses

**Yup, it's that magical time of year again. Exam time. Add that to my college application progress and it should explain my absence nicely. Most likely there won't be any updates from me for the next two weeks or so as I am swamped with studying but anyway, here's something to tied you over. Enjoy! (When I do start updating again it will most likely be to finish Unrequited...which I have been fearing ending...don't want to mess it up:s) Thanks to all the amazing reviewers so far!**

* * *

Daine sighed, eyes fluttering shut briefly as she fastened her pack to Mangle in the early morning light. Numair stood in the other side of mangle, leaning against Spots; the most she had gotten out of him all morning was an incoherent mumble that sounded vaguely angry and just a little confused. They were heading out that morning to travel to a fief and hear the complaints of some noble, _again_. As much as she loved working for the King it was getting fair tiresome listening to complain after complaint when half of the time the noble in questions was just simply so paranoid they confused their own cat with a spidren. It was especially irksome when the trip could take anywhere from two to three weeks just to _get_ there. Daine stopped suddenly, counting days in her head. She realized that it had been two weeks since her last cycle meaning that they would most likely be on the road for her next. Grimacing, she turned to Numair.

"I'll be right back, I forgot something." She said, turning away from him as he said something into Spots mane that sounded like '_myblefwib_' to the best of her understanding.

Daine ran back to her room quickly, at least she felt like she was beginning to wake up, and rifled through her drawers for her stash of gauze. Grabbing a couple rolls she turned and sprinted back to where the horses were, Numair still dozing against his mount. Catching her breath as she neared Mangle she made a face as she realized that she had already secured her packs. She sighed and stuffed the rolls into the front pocket of the shared pack that held the cooking gear and some other supplies before walking over to Numair and shaking him awake.

"Numair, we should be heading out." He opened one bleary eye and she gave him a sympathetic look.

"After this I'm quitting and turning to juggling full time." He grumbled as he mounted Spots in a movement that was even more uncoordinated that usual. Daine swung onto Cloud in a graceful leap as the mare commented on how the 'Stork-man' seemed particularly _stork-like_ that morning before they small group began to head out.

Two weeks later Daine grumbled darkly as she trudged her way through the damp forest on her way back from the latrine. They had gotten turned around, how exactly she didn't know, and were now a week behind and it had rained for the last four days. Not to mention that she was cranky and had cramps, it was going well at all. She sighed heavily as she made it back to the camp and Numair, who was busy cooking their dinner, threw her a concerned look that she met with a tired smile as she waved him off; she really had no reason to take it out on him. She sat down near the fire, stretching her legs out and breathing in deep. Just then Kitten came running at her, jumping into her lap and letting out a high note of excitement.

"Kit! Please, stop." Daine placed a hand around the dragons muzzle in order to halt the sound but the dragonet slipped out of her grip and ran over to Numair who gave her a withering look.

"Stop that, you know better. Now eat this." He placed a small bowl of broth and noodles next to her and brought a larger one over to Daine before he got his own and sat next to her.

"You okay?" He asked, his eyes worried and she grinned up at him the best she could.

"I'm fine, just tired is all. It's been a long couple weeks."

"That it has, I think maybe we should have stopped at the last town we passed." He sighed, his voice full of regret as he gave Daine an apologetic look. They had passed a small town a couple hours back and had chosen to push on but had been bogged down in mud and had not made nearly as much progress as they thought they would that day. Instead, they had settles for setting up camp early and hoping it would dry out by morning. Just then Kit trilled loudly and jumped, upturning her now empty bowl, and began to race around the fire.

"Odds Bobs, kit!" Daine put her bowl down and tried to catch the dragon as she raced by in an exhausted movement as Numair downed the rest of his soup and stood up, sighing.

"Come now Kit, let's see what we can find for you to do and let Daine get some rest." He looked at Daine as he picked Kit up, who was fidgeting uncontrollably. "I think she just has too much energy to burn, riding in the pack so much lately. I'll find something to occupy her while you do the dishes if that's okay?"

"Of course" She smiled at him and picked up the empty bowls to wash them as Numair walked away, struggling with the squirming Kit, to check through their bags. Daine washed the dished quickly and put things in order before turning in early and falling asleep quickly.

* * *

Daine woke up to find Numair already cooking breakfast and acting surprisingly cheerful for, well, Numair at this hour.

"Morning" He said, looking up briefly.

"Morning" She grumbled, pulling her pack over and changing under her bed roll. The two ate in silence before Daine began feeling a bit better.

"So how'd it go with Kit last night?" She asked through a yawn as Numair put his bowl down.

"Like I said, she just had too much energy. Just had to wear her out a bit and she dropped right off to sleep." He nodded over to where Kit was still curled up in Daine's bed roll.

"What did you do?"

"Made an obstacle course" He said, actually proud of himself.

"Seriously? You actually made an obstacle course when you could have just had her run around in circles?" She raised her eyebrows at him and he gave her a look of mock offense.

"Well, forgive me your grace" He said teasingly "I thought it might tire her out more quickly, besides I needed something to do." He shrugged and she rolled her eyes.

"Where is this obstacle course anyway?" She looked at him through narrow eyes and he nodded over to the woods before he got up and she followed. They walked into the trees before Numair made a disgruntled noise.

"Must have rained a little last night" Numair said, crouching down and taking a piece of soaking white fabric that was wrapped around a tree. There were many other pieces wrapped around trunks and going from tree to tree in zigzagging designs which, Daine could only guess, were meant for Kit to jump over. She stared at it for a moment before turning to look down at Numair slowly.

"Numair" She said through clenches teeth "What did you use to make this?"

"Medicinal gauze" He said, offhandedly, before looking up at her "Why did you pack so much extra anyway?" He asked, curious. Daine only stared down at him, wide-eyed and furious, too angry to speak. Slowly a look of realization dawned on the mage looking up at her.

"Oh" He said, a not of dread in his voice, as his face lost all color "_Oh_, so that was, uh, and you _needed_ that, and, uh" Numair Stood up quickly, looking down at the mess around them and then back up at her as he backed away, looking rather terrified.

"Yah-huh"

"And, uh, I take it you don't have anymo-"

"Nuh-uh" Daine walked forward slowly, feeling absolutely murderous as Numair swore vividly. "Numair" She trailed off letting the threat hang in the air.

"Okay, uh, well, you stay here and, uh, _relax_" He stopped and cleared his throat "And I'll go back to the town and get you some more, okay? I'll be back before you know it" He tried to smile but the effect was rather ruined by the fact that he still seemed petrified of her.

"Yah-huh" She nodded her head vigorously as he quickly ran through the trees back to the horses and Daine glared at his receding form until he and Spots disappeared down the road. That was the day Daine decided that Numair was not to be trusted with their supplies.

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**Teehee, a bit different but anyway....review please!**


	12. Buckles

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**I know this one is really short and I had a choice between combining this one with the next chapter (which might be short too) or letting them each have their own chapter and I decided it would be better to separate the incidents so one doesn't get overshadowed by the other. Anyway, enjoy!**

Please read the note at the bottom of this chapter before going on to the next one.

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Daine breathed heavily as she chucked the hay bail onto the growing stack. Leaning back to catch her breath she wiped the sweat from her forehead when she heard footsteps approach. She turned to see Numair walking towards her, a smile on his face.

"Morning magelet, how are you?" He came to stand beside her and she looked up at him, smiling.

"Fair enough, I don't suppose you came to help me with this." She said, gesturing towards the hay.

"Sadly, I did not." He put on an expression of mock apology before continuing "I did, however, come to see if you would like to take a break and get some lunch."

"Sorry, I ate early with Onua. Rain check?" He frowned at her, trying to look hurt.

"You can't take one little break? Not even for me?" She laughed at his response but shook her head.

"Sorry, I have far too much to do today." She stretched briefly as he sighed in resignation.

"Very well, I can see where your true interest lies" He leaned against the stall behind him, holding a hand to his chest as though wounded. "Now what am I to do?"

"I'm sure you will find something." Daine laughed as she moved to go past him, a stack of hay behind her forcing to push her body past his. When Numair saw what she was doing he took a quick step in the same direction in an attempt to free up the passage for her. Instead Daine felt her body jerked along with his.

"Ow" She said suddenly as he stopped and then, upon realizing what had happened, laughed lightly. "Numair stop, stop" She said, as he was still trying to figure out what had happened. "Our belt buckles got locked together." He looked down and she could swear she saw a light blush spread across his features.

"Ah, I see" He said, not looking at her. The two of them both reached to try to untangle the mess at the same time which served only to add to the confusion until Daine finally snapped at him.

"Numair! Stop, just let me get it." Numair sighed and moved his hands, looking uncomfortable as he leaned back onto the stall with his elbows. Daine fidgeted for a few more moments before looking up at the mage sheepishly, a blush now covering her features as well.

"Uh, I think I'm going to need to take your belt off." She said quietly, looking back down, and he nodded, resigned. She had just unlatched his buckle and was pulling it away when Onua's voice approached them.

"Daine, are you here?" Before Either Daine or Numair could right their positions Onua appeared around the corner and upon discovering their situation developed a very shocked look. Daine had to admit it_ couldn't_ have looked good. There she was, short of breath and sweaty, undoing the belt of Numair who was leaning back and watching her and looking none too flustered himself. "Oh, uh, sorry." The older woman said, a slight edge of laughter to her voice. Daine quickly dropped Numair belt, her own now detached, and backed away.

"No Onua, it's not what it-" She faltered as Onua was already leaving, waving back at them and telling them not to worry, she wouldn't pass it along. "Onua!" Daine called again, hopelessly trying to fix the situation. Finally she sighed, defeated, and looked back at Numair who, a brilliant shade of red, was buckling his belt and not meeting her eyes.

"Maybe I should, uh, leave." He said, embarrassment clear in his voice and Daine only nodded as he walked swiftly from the room. That was the day that Daine started to think that the universe just might be out to get her.

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**_WARNING: The next chapter is of a higher rating and containts content that some people may find a bit unsettling, or offensive. To say the least it's more of a..uh...solo act._ **

**Review please!**


	13. Doors

***Warning: This chapter is a higher rating than the others...it's more, uh, personal on Daine's part. You've been warned.***

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Daine sighed as she entered her rooms in the riders barracks exhausted and overheated. Currently they were going through one of the worst heat waves in years and even though the sun had set hours ago the heat had not lessened. She quickly stripped out of her clothes and slipped on the thinnest shift she could find, anything more would be torture. Yawning, she opened the door that led to the outside and left it open a bit in hopes that a breeze may find its way into her chambers. Apologetically she asked her usual night time visitors to stay away for the night as it was already unbearably hot, there were few protests. The girl then walked back to her bed, blew out the candle and collapsed onto the bed, blankets and all.

She found sleep hard to come by however and in the intense heat and her sleepy haze her mind began to errantly sift through recent events. She felt a blush come to her cheeks as she thought of Numair. She had to admit that even though she had tried to stop it ever since the masquerade she had been hard pressed not to think about him in a different light. It started off simply enough, a stray thought here and there but nothing more, but after the incident at the swimming hole she had found her stray thoughts turning into more frequent daydreams. After that of course there had been the episode in the stables and while at the time that had been much more innocent than the first two endeavours she soon started to think of what could have happened if it _hadn't_ been so innocent. She felt her cheeks get hot and she rolled over, frustrated. She had to admit it, at this point she was downright fantasizing.

It wasn't like it was consuming her thoughts or anything but more and more she caught herself looking at him, well, differently. She had always known that he was well enough as men went but she had never really noticed just _how_ attractive he was. She sighed again, she decided that all of this was entirely due to that kiss, well, _kisses_ but whatever. If he hadn't been such a good kisser she wouldn't be thinking things like this. Therefore, it was entirely his fault. She highly doubted that he was in his room obsessing about her at this moment. She wondered what he was doing in his rooms at that moment. She bit her lip, she could always go see him; and then she would be in his room _with_ him. She giggled slightly as her mind brought her further down that path and deciding that it really couldn't hurt anything. After a few moments of idle (and not so idle) fantasies she found that her thoughts were doing nothing for the current heat situation or for helping her fall asleep for that moment. She took a moment to realize the position she was in, lying atop the covers with her hands above her head and breathing heavily with her knees bent causing her shift to ride up around her thighs. She had officially crossed the line of being able to even _pretend_ her thoughts had been at all appropriate.

She moved her hands down to straighten out her shift but paused as her fingers brushed her thighs and instead gripped it between her fingers and raised it a little higher, biting her lip. Her hand lazily ran along her thigh as she hesitated and glanced at the door. If she were going to, well, _get carried away_ she really should close it. Then again, it was only open a fraction and no one ever came in that way, besides in her current mood she doubted it would take very long. She took a deep breath and allowed her hands to do what the pleased as she enjoyed the sensations coursing through her. She didn't even hear the footsteps outside her door or the light knock. She did, however, hear when Numair entered her room as he spoke.

"Daine, are you still awake?" She looked up just in time to see him freeze in shock as she hastily sat up, pulling her shift down, more mortified in that moment than she had ever been before. This by far beat absolutely every awkward moment the two of them had ever shared, at least he didn't know she had been thinking of him but that was only a very small mercy. Her cheeks (and his) blazed and the seconds unfolded and finally she spoke in barely more than a whisper.

"Sorry, I uh, sorry" With that he quickly backed out of the room, closing the door behind him and Daine collapsed back onto her bed on the verge of tears with embarrassment. That was the day that Daine began being a lot more careful about closing doors.

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**Review please! (I shall be much more motivated to update:D) Thanks to all the great readers who have reviewed so far!**


	14. Spells

**New chapter, I hope you like it!**

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The ride into the mountains had been uncomfortable to say the least. Daine and Numair had been sent to help a small fief in the mountains with their complaints of immortals and not only had the ride been cold and wet, the first snows has already settled, but she and Numair has not exactly been on speaking terms since he had, er, _walked in on her_. It wasn't that they weren't speaking at all it was just that conversations had a nasty habit of coming to very awkward stops. One of them would either say something rather suggestive on accident or one of them would begin to blush which would tell the other person _exactly_ what was on their mind and they would descend into an uncomfortable silence for the next few hours. Frankly it was beginning to get on her nerves and she wasn't sure how much more she could take when she sighed in relief as the fief came into view. Numair stopped Spots and Daine followed suit.

"We'll get rooms and then see what we can find out about these immortal attacks. Hopefully we can get back home before the snow gets worse; I really don't like the idea of spending our winter here." Numair said, looking glum as he surveyed the small fief.

"I second that, from what the King said it sounded more like people making up ghost stories than actual immortals to me."

"Yes, well in any case should there be trouble I devised a new spell" He trailed off as he and Spots began to move forward again and he turned back in his saddle to look at her. "Are you coming?" Daine didn't notice the severe shade of red that had taken root in his cheeks before she answered.

"Right behind you" The girl said, urging Cloud forward, before looking up at Numair who was clearly trying to hid what he was thinking. Realizing the context that their words could have held Daine turned a red to rival Numairs as they rode slowly through the snow. After a moment Daine attempted to move past the moment.

"You said you had a new spell?" She asked meekly, in almost a squeak.

"Uh, I'll tell you about it later." Numair mumbled as he looked down at his saddle, not meeting her eyes, his cheeks still burning.

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Daine muttered grumpily as she got ready for bed. She and Numair had barely even looked at each other since earlier except for a rather awkward moment where Numair insisted that the door between their rooms be locked. On top of that the reports they received of the so called '_immortals problem'_ sounded fair ridiculous. There was no proof of damage or attacks and it sounded more like local legends spinning out of control than anything else. Still, something seemed off and she figured they would have to stay to find out what was going on anyway. Yawning, she crawled into bed and decided to forget about things until the morning. She doubted anything too serious was going on and this awkwardness with Numair couldn't last forever, could it?

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Daine was awoken by a maid the next morning and sat up in bed groggily. Looking outside she saw that the light snows of earlier had turned into a full blown blizzard and was suddenly very thankful that she and Numair had reached the fief the day before. The maid brought in a tray with breakfast for her saying it was at the 'master mages request' and Daine began to eat slowly, still groggy.

"Has Numair woken up yet?" Daine asked the maid before she left.

"Oh he was up hours ago miss, went to the lake to look around. I do hope he avoided the storm." The woman muttered as she left and Daine jumped out of bed, pulling on her outer garments as quickly as possible. Before leaving she threw one last worried look at the storm outside and grabbed her pack with their outdoor equipment in it. As she ran threw the lobby she ignored the innkeepers' shouts that a letter had been left for her and sprinted to the stables where she mounted Cloud, noticing that Spots was still there meaning that Numair had set out on foot, not a good sign.

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Fifteen minutes later Daine was leading Cloud through the snowdrifts at the base of the mountains as she shouted for Numair. How could he have been such a fool? Going out in weather like this and alone of all things? She knew things had been weird between them but she didn't think that they would be this bad. She swore to every god she could think of that if he was alright she would never let something like this come between them again. Suddenly Daine saw a dark shape in the snow and she jumped off Clouds back, racing towards it.

"Numair!" She yelled as she reached the mass and turned him over, seeing that it was indeed him. "Numair, wake up!" She could feel her panic rising when she felt how cold he was though he was still breathing. She spread out her magical hearing and found that there was a small cave nearby; if she wanted him to live she would have to hurry. Daine loaded Numair onto Cloud, who for once didn't complain, and the three of them headed towards the cave.

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Once inside the cave Daine quickly lit a fire, luckily it seemed that the dwelling had been used as a shelter recently, probably for hunting, and there was firewood readily available. She laid out a bedroll and dragged Numair over to it as fast as she could. Though he was still breathing it was shallow and his pulse was uneven. Knowing that there was only one thing she could do when someone was at this stage of hypothermia she quickly stripped his wet clothes from him and manoeuvred him into the bedroll before taking her own clothes off and sliding in behind him. She shivered when her skin met his own but wrapped herself around him in an attempt to share his warmth. She lay there for a few moments before she felt tears welling up in her eyes.

"Please don't die Numair, not like this." She whispered against him, she couldn't leave things like this with him and there was so much more in life she had to do; she wanted him there with her.

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Daine woke slowly and it took her a moment to realize where she was and what had happened. Realizing that she must have dozed off she leaned over to find that Numair was still unconscious although he was not as cold and his breathing was had evened out. Daine sighed and settled back against him, tightening her grip on him. She hardly realized it when his body tensed and his eyes opened.

"Daine" His voice said, strangely calm and even. She jumped and leaned over him, trying to get a good look at him but before she could speak he continued. "What are you _doing_?"

"What do you mean what am I doing? Numair, you were half dead in the snow!" Daine said with an edge of anger to her voice.

"Daine that was a spell, didn't you read my letter?" The two of them froze and Numairs eyes flicked down to where the two of them were pressed together before quickly looking away. Daine cleared her throat and slid out of the bedroll quickly, gathering her clothes, whilst Numair averted his eyes. Once she was dressed Daine sat across the fire from him, not meeting his eyes.

"I, uh, didn't get a letter" She mumbled as he sighed.

"Apparently not, it was a spell that would make me seem as though I were dead if I ran into any trouble. It created an illusion that doubled as a shield against harm, cold included."

"Oh, well, that sounds smart"

"I had thought so too" He pulled the bedroll up around him further before looking around for his clothes.

"You know what?" Daine shouted, jumping up, suddenly furious "You'd better tell me next time you have some mighty impressive spell going. First Carthak and now this, you'd better start telling me things master mage." She stood glaring at him and he looked at her sheepishly.

"I meant to, I just kept forgetting and stuff" He trailed off in the last part before clearing his throat and continuing "I left the letter and set out this morning because I thought you could use the rest and I think there may be more here going on than meets the eye. The letter gave you instructions on how to reverse the spell without waiting it out if I didn't return by a certain point. I only used it because I was about to get cornered by some people I would really rather not have know we were around yet" Numair continued into the information he had gathered, still avoiding her gaze, and his theories on a conspiracy in the area as Daine settled back down and put her head on her hand, sighing. That was the day that Daine decided Numair could start fending for himself.

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**Hope you liked it!;)**


	15. Kisses

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New chapter! Enjoy:)

Note: It's been a few months since the last, er, incident so they've had time to kind of get past the last couple chapters so that it doesn't make things incredibly awkward anymore. They never really talked about it they just kind of let it...be, that's the coping method they've adopted over the last 14 chapters :p

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Daine looked around her as she waited for Numair to come back to their table. There was a small crowd in the tavern that served as the main floor of the inn that they had stopped at for the night and it was getting rather loud. She and Numair were heading to his tower for a couple months for a break and they had stopped in the town for a night of real rest. He had gone to get them some food and to be honest she was thankful for a moment to herself. They had been together for over a week straight on the road and not that Daine didn't love his company but she was beginning to think that she might love his company too much. There were a few things that had happened between them recently, particularly the masquerade, which had her wondering what exactly it was that she wanted.

Daine sighed and leaned back in her chair, rubbing her temples. It would be best not to think about it really, it wouldn't bring her anything but trouble. Numair would never see her that way and there was no use even thinking about possibilities. It was probably a crush, nothing that she should worry about. She almost laughed at herself, to think that after all this time she would develop a teenagers crush on him after knowing him for so long.

"You alright?" Numair had returned to the table and set a plate of food in front of her as he smiled lightly at her. She looked up, surprised, and felt herself blush when she met his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired" She smiled back, ignoring her pounding heart.

"Well, we'll be home soon." He said, clearly happy, as he sat down next to her and picked up his fork. Her heart jumped slightly when he said 'home' when referring to the two of them and she silently cursed herself. She nodded and they ate in silence while Daine kept her eyes on her food, missing the glances Numair kept sending her way.

A little ways into the meal they both reached for the pitcher of water at the same time and their hands grazed each other. Daine froze and felt Numair do the same. She glanced at him, cheeks burning, and saw him swallow as he stared at their hands, still touching. Slowly he turned his hand to hold hers gently and moved his thumb up and down along the back of her hand. Daine's breath caught in her throat and she bit her lip. Suddenly there was a loud crash and they jumped apart quickly. Daine turned to see that someone had smashed a glass on the floor and people were scrambling to wipe up the mess. She turned back to the table slowly and glanced at Numair out of the corner of her eye once more, he seemed as uncomfortable as she was as he picked up his glass and took a drink, avoiding her gaze. A few more moments passed before Daine got up quickly.

"I'm, uh, I'm going to go for a walk." She mumbled before leaving the inn as quickly as possible.

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Numair leaned back and put his hands over his face, sighing. What had possessed him to do that? More than that how could he let her just leave without saying anything? He had noticed that his feelings for her had been changing for a while. What with how he had responded when he had caught her with that other boy it had been hard to deny it but he had done his best not to make it obvious. Obviously he had failed quite magnificently at the masquerade but that really hadn't been on purpose. He had thought, for some reason, that things had been changing between them for her too and he hadn't been thinking tonight. Making a decision he got up and walked out of the bar. He sighed looking both ways down the street of the small town, unsure of where she had gone. Looking over he saw a couple men sitting on the porch and walked over to them.

"Excuse me; did any of you see a brunette go by here? She's about this tall." He held up a hand, indicating her height. The two men looked him over for a minute, looking a bit suspicious, before one of them spoke up.

"A girl went into the stables a few minutes ago." He jerked his thumb in the direction of the stables and Numair thanked them before heading off in that direction.

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Daine cursed in a low voice as she tried to find a candle, relying on the moonlight that sifted through one of the high windows for sight. In her quest for light she didn't hear Numair enter.

"Daine?" He asked quietly and Daine jumped, spinning to face him.

"Numair" She said, trailing off as Numair swallowed and opened his mouth before closing it again; finally he spoke.

"Are you alright?" He asked, taking a step towards her. She opened her mouth to tell him that she was fine before changing her mind. They both knew that something was going on, there was no use trying to ignore it.

"I don't know." She said truthfully. "It feels like things are changing and I just don't know-" Her voice faltered not knowing what to say and he nodded, moving closer again.  
"I know, I know things are changing." He moved so that he was standing right in front of her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "The question is, do you want them to change?" He asked softly, his voice full of longing. Daine looked up at him sharply and saw an emotion in his eyes that she never expected. Taking a deep breath she nodded.

"Yes." There was a moment of silence and she worried that she had said the wrong thing when he smiled and bent down to kiss her. His lips moved over hers softly and she wrapped her arms around his neck and he pushed her up against the stall behind her. After a moment their kisses became more heated and Numair pulled the hem of her shirt out of her breeches to run his hands along the strip of skin exposed. Deepening the kiss Daine moved closer to Numair and wrapped her legs around his waist as he lifted her up shoved her more firmly against the stall. Suddenly Daine felt something heavy strike her head and she fell to the ground, yelling out.

"Daine!" Numair said startled. From her point on the ground Daine looked over to see that a small pair of pliers had fallen from the rafters above them and looked up to see that Numair had caught a hammer that must have fallen right afterwards.

"I'm Fine" She began to say but just then a number of people came rushing into the stables. Everyone froze for a moment before one of the men shouted at Numair.

"Stop right there!" Suddenly Daine realized what the men were seeing. Numair was standing over her with a raised hand that held a hammer while she lay on the ground slightly undressed, dishevelled and very possibly bleeding from the head.

"What?" Numair asked dumbly before a look of understanding washed over his face when he realized what the situation looked like. "No, no, this is a big misunderstanding." He said quickly, turning to the men as Daine got to her feet.

"Sure it is." A man said sarcastically as he came up and grabbed Numair by the arms.

"No really-" Daine started but a woman came over to her and put an arm around her, guiding her away from Numair.

"Don't you fret deary, we'll take care of you. You won't have to worry about him again." There was an outburst of agreement from the crowd and soon they had surrounded Numair and were herding him out of the stables as both she and Numair's words fell on deaf ears.

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Numair sighed and leaned against the bars of the cell. He had been there for hours and he was the only prisoner. He could have escaped easily using magic but he figured that that would only cause more trouble. He sighed again and closed his eyes.

"Numair?" He heard Daine's voice whisper sheepishly. He opened his eyes and looked up at her and she smiled at him slightly. "Sorry it took me so long. It was a while before people calmed down enough to let me explain." He could see a blush stain her cheeks and felt his own face mirror hers.

"Can I be let out now magelet?" She grinned and held up a key. As she was unlocking the cell he looked down at her and smirked. "You know, I thought we might run into some problems at some point but this really wasn't what I expected." Daine chuckled and opened the door.

"Well at least we know it won't be boring." Daine smirked and stepped closer to him, looking up at him coyly. He smirked back and wrapped his arms around her, leaning down to kiss her once more. As his lips met hers there was a creaking noise and then a slam. Drawing apart the two looked behind them to see the cell door had closed. Numair reached around Daine to push on it, it didn't budge. Numair gave an exasperated sigh as Daine looked back at him.

"We'll have to call for help; you can't reach the lock from here." She raised an eyebrow at him and he continued. "I was going to try to pick it." He mumbled, not looking at her.

"Well" She said, a not of mischief in her voice. "It'll probably be a while until people come to check on us." She raised and eyebrow at him and he shook his head.

"I don't think it would be a good idea to carry on Dai-" Daine, however, was already kissing him and he found that he suddenly didn't care what was a good idea or not. That was the day that Numair realized that Daine was going to be getting him into a lot of trouble.

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Review please! Also I have just set up a forum that is devoted to the writing aspect of the D/N fandom. If you want more info go check out my latest chapter of 'Surrender'. There is more of an explanation as to what it is there. Anyway, it's called The D/N Writer's Faction; Come check it out!**


	16. Birthdays

**New chappie! Enjoy!**

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Numair breathed in Daine's scent as she leaned against him, settled between his legs, as they relaxed in the undines clearing.

"What are you thinking?" Daine asked when he gave a contented sigh.

"That this is, by far, the best birthday ever."

"Really? And why is that?" Daine asked cheekily, turning her face towards his. He returned her coy smile and lent towards her.

"I wonder." He murmured before his lips met hers. They kissed for several minutes before Daine pulled back and leaned her head against his neck, her fingers tracing circles on his chest. He tightened his hold on her. They had only been together for a few months now and he was amazed at how easy it had been. Granted they had kept it a secret to date but the ease with which they fit together astounded him. His thoughts were interrupted when he felt warm lips against his throat and he caught his breath.

"Daine." He said softly, half warning and half plea. He hadn't yet allowed himself to bed her and she been quite forceful in showing how much she disagreed with his opinion. He had been very clear with her in wanting to wait so as not to rush into things, highly underestimating her abilities over him. He had lost count of the times that she had teased him until he was so aroused that it hurt and he was on the brink of his self-control. She had moved up to nibble on his ear and his breeches were beginning to get uncomfortable from the feel of her pressed against him when he sighed and pushed her back.

"Daine, we've talked about this." He whispered, his voice hoarse. She pouted up at him and he gasped when she turned around and straddled him.

"I've heard what you said." She whispered, leaning down to move her lips tantalizingly against his own "But somehow, I can't help but to think" She moved her hips lower and he bit his lip "That that's not really what you want." She thread her hands through his hair and bit the skin on his neck hard enough to leave a mark as he gasped at the pleasure-pain. His hands tightened around her waist as he fought for some semblance of control.

"Daine" He spoke again, hoping his voice was firmer this time, and he heard her sigh in response. She ceased her attentions to his neck and sat up to look him in the eyes.

"It is your birthday you know." She said coyly and sighed again when he didn't reply. Looking more deeply into his eyes she rolled her eyes and got off him (he wasn't entirely sure if that was a good thing or not). "Very well."

"Thank you." He said after a moment of silence and wrapped his arm around her, willing his body to calm down.

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_Definitely the best birthday_ _ever_ Numair thought as he pressed Daine up against his door and kissed her deeply. He wove his fingers through her hair and just about lost it when he heard her moan deeply in response to his ministrations. He felt her hands run up his chest and undo his top buttons. He pulled back, rasping, with a small smile on his face.

"Perhaps, magelet, we should at least move inside first." He looked around the deserted hallway before looking back down at her. She was looking up at him with a small smile playing over her swollen lips. He paused for a moment, seeing the question in her eyes, and nodded. It was his birthday after all. He pressed her back up against the door and resumed his attentions. Pretty soon she had slid her hands underneath his shirt and he had slid hers out from her breaches and unbuttoned it halfway down. As Daine turned her attentions to his neck he reached behind her and, fumbling slightly, unlocked and opened his door. Kissing her deeply he pushed her through and kicked the door shut behind him.

"SURPRISE!" The couple sprang apart as lights flashed on and the pair was suddenly confronted with a rather large group of equally shocked people. A Banner proclaiming 'Happy Birthday Numair!' hung behind their majesties, Alanna, Onua, George, Sarge and a variety of other people as they stared at Daine and Numair. Daine clutched her shirt closed, her ace becoming redder by the second. A moment of silence passed before Alanna cleared her throat, a wicked smile on her face.

"Perhaps" she said slowly "You two might want to take a moment in the other room to get yourselves together?" she asked, an eyebrow raised and a wicked smile on her face. Red faced the two mages scurried into the adjoining bedchamber. Numair was pretty sure he heard Thayet mumble something about being glad she didn't bring the kids as they were leaving and Onua and Sarge were already exchanging money.

Once behind closed doors they quickly put themselves to rights. After an awkward silence Numair looked at Daine and smiled sheepishly.

"At leat we don't have to decide when to tell them now." He shrugged hoping to lighten the mood and Daine buried her face in her hands. That was the day that EVERYONE learned something new.

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**Review please!**


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